The Hill: GOP ‘Plagued by Tea Party Monster it Created’

Since the GOP took the wheel of the 114thCongress in January, all they seem to have accomplished is driving the institution into the ground—guided by ineffective, chaotic leadership that’s part and parcel with the Republican Party’s new extremism.

This clearly wasn’t the outcome Boehner (or Paul Ryan, who’s spent the last few weeks trying to decide whether or not to pursue a leadership position—the third highest in the land, by the way – no one with serious legislative ambitions has any compelling reasons to want) were anticipating in 2010 when they were busy trying to grow the Republican rank-and-file and ride the Tea Party wave to elect first-time, conservative House candidates across the country.

What the Republican leadership didn’t see coming was the monster their Tea Party-dabbling was creating. Or that their strategy of using the redistricting process to gerrymander districts to ensure Republican victories and minimize the voting power of an increasingly diverse electorate was about to back fire, big time.